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Protect our Labs: Postdoc Bridge Funding and a Raise

Submitted by Staff on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 16:52

Top grant-getting Principal Investigators support postdocs!

March 9, 2017

Dear Postdoc Colleagues,

On Monday, March 6, 2017, the Daily Targum ran an open letter to President Barchi demanding a bridge fund to pay for a raise in the minimum salaries of Postdocs at Rutgers University. The open letter is signed by a collection of 10 PIs who account for almost 100 million dollars’ worth in lab grants, presenting a powerful push for sustained lab funding. Part of the demand for bridge funding is that a portion of the money be used to fund the postdoc raise to a minimum salary of $47,476.00. This act of faculty to postdoc solidarity recognizes that postdocs deserve adequate pay and respect and that the central Rutgers administration needs to properly fund the labs that produce the research and scholarship at this institution.

As of our right now, the administration has refused to proceed with the implementation of the postdoc raise, citing an injunction of an FLSA (Federal Labor Standards Acts) ruling as their reason for not proceeding. This does not mean that they have refused a raise indefinitely but that they refuse to proceed on implementation while an injunction is in place. We believe that this is a bad faith move on their part, and that regardless of what is happening around the nation, they need to follow the lead of several universities from across the country, and proceed with the implementation of this raise. We ask that you sign our petition and show your support for the Rutgers AAUP-AFT in the creation of this bridge fund and the raising of the postdoc minimum salary.

We will be presenting our petition along with the open letter from PIs to Michael Gower, the university treasurer, at his next town hall meeting Monday, March 13th from 3:00-4:30 PM in the multipurpose room of the College Avenue Student Center. If you are interested in attending and showing your support for the creation of the bridge fund and the raise of the minimum salary for postdocs, please respond to this email: aaup@rutgersaaup.org.